General discussion

Who will replace Powell and three others to leave the cabinet

According to a senior administration official today, Secretary of State Colin Powell and three other Cabinet members submitted their resignations. Besides Powell, who had argued Bush's case for ousting Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein before a skeptical U.N. Security Council in February 2003, others whose resignations were confirmed Monday included Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, Education Secretary Rod Paige and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham.

The departures of Attorney General John Ashcroft and Commerce Secretary Donald Evans had been announced last week. The resignations revealed Monday bring to six (out of 15) the number of Cabinet members to leave so far. We all know that Bush already has chosen White House counsel Alberto Gonzales to succeed Ashcroft.

Most of the speculation on a successor for Powell has centered on U.N. Ambassador John Danforth, a Republican and former U.S. senator from Missouri, and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.

The leading candidate to replace Paige is Margaret Spellings, Bush's domestic policy adviser who helped shape his school agenda when he was the Texas governor.

The daughter of a California peach grower, Veneman, 55, was the nation's first woman agriculture secretary. Speculation on a potential replacement has centered on Chuck Conner, White House farm adviser, Democratic Rep. Charles Stenholm of Texas, who lost his seat in the Nov. 2 elections, Allen Johnson, the chief U.S. negotiator on agricultural issues and Bill Hawks, undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs.

Powell has had a controversial tenure in the secretary of state's job, reportedly differing on some key issues at various junctures with Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld. Powell, however, has generally had good relations with his counterparts around the world, although his image was strained by the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

Powell, a former chairman of the military Joint Chiefs of Staff under the first President Bush, led the current administration offensive at the United Nations for a military attack to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, arguing a weapons-of-mass-destruction threat that the administration could never buttress.

Do you believe that they are in fact qualified and should be the new cabinet members? Or do you think others will or should take those places instead?

All Comments

Dr. Condoleezza Rice

Let?s get this party started right. Condoleezza Rice is absolutely brilliant. She has performed exceptionally for the President in her role as national security advisor and if I were him I wouldn?t think twice before offering her the secretary of state position. I agree with a lot of Republicans that she should be somewhere on the presidential ticket in 2008.

She tells it as it is

And not always in Bush's favour. IN fact paret of her testimony points out how he completely ignored the warnings of 9/11 and how he sat back in his chair and smirked while saying, "nobody will die on MY watch", (regarding Iraq and casualties).

She sees Bush as a smug, arrogant, puppet to the administration, at least ONE Republican can see him for who he really is.

Good news and bad news

According to MSN, sources say Powell's replacement is Condoleezza Rice. What does this mean?

The good news: Rice is among Bush's closest advisers, so foreign leaders will at least know that her words reflect the views of the president. Her appointment may also provide, at least in the short term, a morale boost among foreign service officers?a note of compensation for the departure of their cherished Powell that the State Department is now run by someone who has the president's ear and trust.

The bad news: In her four years as national security adviser, Rice has displayed no imagination as a foreign-policy thinker. She was terrible?one of the worst national security advisers ever?as a coordinator of policy advice. And to the extent she found herself engaged in bureaucratic warfare, she was almost always outgunned by Vice President **** Cheney or Rumsfeld. Last year, for instance, the White House issued a directive putting her in charge of policy on Iraqi reconstruction; the directive was ignored. If Rumsfeld and his E-Ring gang survive the Cabinet shake-up, Rice may wind up every bit as flummoxed as her predecessor.

With Chong as vice prez.....

good question

Thank you for posting a question and leading a discussion without using intentionally inflammatory language, either in your title or body of your post.

In answer to your question, I do question the qualifications of some of the people already in the cabinet. I think GWB likes having people he knows around him, even if they aren't as qualified as subject matter experts he doesn't already know and trust.

He's my President now, duly elected (for the first time), and all I hope for is the new appointees at least have a lick of common sense between them and do something good for the country while they're in power. Because in '08, Dems will do better...

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